CASC Course

Venue: Coombe Lodge, Blagdon

Date: TBA

Due to various reasons it was decided that it would not be pratical for SWDT to run the CASC course in time for the coming exam in September, however we are still considering future courses.

Drawing on the success of their CASC exam practice course, previously known as the Bristol CASC Course, Dr Sabarigirivasan Muthukrishnan and Dr Suchitra Sabarigirivasan have joined forces with the Royal College of Psychiatrists South West Division to continue running this course under SWDT (South West Division Training).  This course has been timed prior to sitting your exams to identify and work on your areas of concern, taking the skills from the course and putting them into practice.

On day one candidates will move in small groups, perform 4-5 stations each and observe 12-15 stations being done by other candidates.  The candidates will cover CASC topics in General Adult Psychiatry, Psychotherapy, Old Age Psychiatry, Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Learning Disability Psychiatry having tutorials in each sub specialty.  In addition there will be an extensive tutorial in Forensic Psychiatry.

Day two, follows the model of the CASC exams (in terms of layout and timings) with the candidate working through 16 stations.  There will also be tutorials on interview skills and physical examination.

For all the exam practice the time allowed will be as in the real exam.  For the linked station there will be 2 minutes preparation and 10 minutes station time.  For individual stations there will be 1 minute preparation and 7 minutes station time.   

The course will use professional actors and candidates will be assessed by experienced assessors.

Over these two days you will take part in and cover the following:

• Tutorials and discussion on the various CASC topics
• Perform 4-5 stations and observe 12 to 15 stations on the first day.
• Practice 16 stations, 8 individual and 4 linked stations.
• Receive individualised feedback from experienced assessors and professional actors on your performance
• Attend an Interview skills workshop
• Tutorial on the Forensic  Psychiatry CASC stations
• Tutorial on the physical examination stations
• Practise physical examination stations
• Opportunity to practise 20-21 stations and observe 12-15 stations in two days

The course includes:

• Opportunity to participate in conditions similar to the real exam
• Written feedback from the actor and assessor for 16 stations
• Professional actors
• Experienced assessors
• Course material which includes 100 examples of linked and stand alone stations resembling those encountered in the exams
• Email and telephone support up to the day before the actual exam

The following are draft Programmes used in previous courses but could change slightly for the future courses.

Day 1

Day 2 (Order and timings subject to change for December course)

This programme is subject to change.

These are just a few comments that were received from the previous courses:

• 'I would highly recommend this course which was excellent and helped me to prepare for and pass my CASC exam. As well as numerous practice stations and tutorials, there were useful workshops focussing on interview skills and physical examination. There was a good balance of well-structured workshops and more individually tailored tutorials. The mock exam reflected well the exam conditions we had on the day and therefore we knew what to expect. There was also telephone support available up to the day before the exam. I would like to pass on my thanks to you and all the team, I am very grateful for all your hard work.' - Dr Delphine Coyle
  
• 'I found your course very useful indeed. It built up my confidence enormously, feedbacks were very honest and teachers were concentrated on real CASC all the time. I got a much better understanding about what examiners were looking at , how I should present myself when starting scenarios and how I should sum them up'.
  
• 'Your second day (Mock exam) was also very useful and I had to perform under exam conditions. I think it was worth the  money and I am going to recommend  this course to my colleagues.' - Anon

For further information please contact:

Administrator: James Gregory

Manager, South West Division: Pat McPhee

Tel:   01761 463979
Fax: 01761 463 978